Danny Finkelstein Is Bang On The Money About The Importance Of Staying On The Moderate Path

I have made my opinion about ‘mainstream Conservatism’ quite clear in a blog a few weeks ago and also a blog last week.

There is an exceptional piece by Danny Finkelstein in today’s Times (£) in which he takes the ‘mainstream Conservatives’ to task.  It is well worth a read.

Danny suggests that:

“There is still the unresolved question of the election, with many on the Right advancing the entertaining theory that if the party had been more “robust” (in other words right-wing) it would have won a majority and wouldn’t need to compromise with the Liberal Democrats at all.

The nub of their argument is that a government implementing the largest retrenchment in public spending in modern times, the introduction of free schools, a daring (very possibly too daring) market-orientated reform of the NHS and a massive change to welfare provision is somehow not being Conservative enough. They aren’t satisfied.

This dissatisfaction is accompanied by the claim that the critics are the “real” Conservatives, the “authentic” Tories. And this is a very dangerous claim because it suggests no room in authentic Conservatism for practicality, compromise with electoral reality or moderation.”

He suggests that there are three things that must be resisted and, in each case he is right:

“The first is a lack of proportion, without which any party is sunk. Issues are being raised to the level of high principle that simply do not belong there… The second is a lack of willingness to accept compromise and a good deal… Most important of all there is the claim to being the “real” Conservatives. If moderate Tories surrender that, the game is up.”

That final sentence is the best summary I have seen about the importance of moderates in the party winning the debate about whether the Party should remain in the centre or shift to the right.

Related posts:

1. Nurturing moderate Islam in Britain
2. Oliver and Danny up a tree…
3. The importance of Big Society, Big Schomeity
4. Not with our money
5. Showing the money